10 Myths about Aleister Crowley Which are Actually True

In this article, the legendary and eccentric Aleister Crowley is being confirmed (or is he) to be involved with many officials of his time and to actually have a... good sense of humor. Are all those myths actually true? Read this article by https://ac2012.com/ and find out more.

In one of our most popular posts, we listed ten myths aboutAleister Crowley which we refuted within this blog. We also revealed some interesting facts about Crowley in our guide to the AC2012 campaign ad. Now, we offer ten myths about Aleister Crowley which are actually true! (Or are they…?)

OK, no, Gardner didn’t pay Crowley to write the Wiccan initiation rituals. And it’s not that Crowley sat down to write initiation rituals for Wicca. What happened, apparently, was this: Gardner took a bunch of Crowley’s writings, and material from Liber AL vel Legis, and sort of cut and pasted them with a few words changed and a few words added. From this he created initiation rituals,the Charge of the Goddess, the Drawing Down the Moon ritual, and more. For the full account, see Rodney Orpheus’ essay, “A New and Greater Pagan Cult: Gerald Gardner & Ordo Templi Orientis.”

9. Aleister Crowley knew the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard.

L. Ron Hubbard

And by know him, we mean… well, Aleister Crowley at least heard aboutL. Ron Hubbard — enough that he got “fairly frantic” when contemplating the idiocy that he was hearing about. Look, that’s about as well as we think anyone should know L. Ron Hubbard. The lack of any real contact, however, didn’t stop Hubbard from claiming that Crowley was his “very good friend,” as you can hear in this recording where Hubbard pronounces Crowley’s name wrong, discusses a book by Crowley that doesn’t exist, and concludes by saying that Crowley is “Very, very, something or other.”

Aleister Crowley had learned about Hubbard’s friendship with Jack Parsons, who at the time was Master of Agapé Lodge No. 2, one of the American lodges of Aleister Crowley’s Ordo Templi Orientis. Hubbard and Parsons had started a business together and began the ridiculous Babalon Working. Crowley was right to be frantic; the business partnership ultimately ended in shambles, Hubbard ran off with Parsons’ boat, and went on to start his sci-fi religion, Scientology.

8. Aleister Crowley was actually a nice guy with a good sense of humor.

“The common defect of all mystical systems previous to that of the Aeon whose Law is Thelema is that there has been no place for Laughter.”

Just, not always at the same time. Aleister Crowley’s best humor was often at someone else’s expense, but overall he had a kind heart and a deep concern for the well-being of every man, woman, and child alive. Indeed, in 1924 he dedicated his life to serving humankind, and from then on he worked tirelessly and exclusively for the cause of human liberty.

It would be impossible to survey Crowley’s extraordinary wit in this small space. Suffice to say, all of his prose is packed with humor. Aleister Crowley’s original writing is far funnier than any of the parodies of his work. Below are a few short examples of his excellent jests. If you have any other favorite witticisms from Aleister Crowley, please share in the comments!

“One would go mad if one took the Bible seriously; but to take it seriously one must be already mad.” — Liber ABA, Part II, Chapter XVI

“May the New Year bring you courage to break your resolutions early! My own plan is to swear off every kind of virtue, so that I triumph even when I fall!” — Moonchild

“Theosophist: A person who talks about Yoga, and does no work.” — Liber ABA, Glossary

“Some men are born sodomites, some achieve sodomy, and some have sodomy thrust upon them…” — The Scented Garden of Abdullah the Satirist of Shiraz

“[I adopt the phrase ‘Holy Guardian Angel’] Because since all theories of the universe are absurd it is better to talk in the language of one which is patently absurd, so as to mortify the metaphysical man.” — The Temple Of Solomon the Kingin The Equinox I, no. 1.

7. Aleister Crowley inspired the counterculture movement of the 1960s.

Timothy Leary as Aleister Crowley

Most people are quite aware of Aleister Crowley’s censored appearance on the cover of Sgt. Pepper among the Beatles’ other heroes. Few, though, have gone on to ask why Aleister Crowley made the cut. John Lennon made the connection clear in an interview with Playboy when he said that “The whole Beatle idea was to do what you want, right? To take your own responsibility.” Lennon was paraphrasing “Do what thou wilt,” which is one of the central precepts of Thelema, the religion founded by Aleister Crowley. Thelema is the Greek word which means “will” and teaches that we each must discover our individual inmost nature, described as the “True Will.”

The Beatles were only the first of many counterculture rock musicians in the 1960s to openly cite Aleister Crowley as an influence. Led Zeppelin‘s guitarist Jimmy Page was very interested in Aleister Crowley and he remains a prominent Thelemite today. We have even recently learned that Frank Zappa was reading Crowley in 1968.

Apart from rock stars, who helped to popularize the writings of Aleister Crowley, we can also look at some of the people who revolutionized western culture in other, perhaps more deep and lasting ways. To start with ( find more HERE)

About Alex FtoulisA life coach, author, master healer, artist and a researcher in the domains of analytical and personality psychology, cognitive sciences, eastern and western philosophies and religions, quantum mechanics and more.